Sales and display space in a store is a valuable resource, especially in high traffic areas such as end caps or in expensive refrigerated shelving in the meat or dairy department of a grocery store. Effective utilization of the available sales and display space in a store can make the difference between profit and loss, when that space is used to maximize planned or impulse purchases, to provide for the right levels of inventory, and to offer a wider variety of product choices.
In a retail sales environment, product containers often have an appearance meant to attract the attention of consumers, and they often bear information and messages meant to motivate consumers to make a purchase. It follows that the greater the usable display area available on the surface of a particular product container, the larger the billboard on which to display an attractive appearance and convey messages to potential purchasers. Consequently, all other things being equal, a container with more usable display space would be preferred over a container with less usable display space on its surface.
Another practical problem in a retail environment is to maintain the right amount of inventory to meet demand. Too much space allocated to inventory of one particular product is undesirable when that space could be better used to offer a wider variety of products, or when that inventory is not turning over quickly enough. Too little space for inventory of one particular product is undesirable if it results in lost sales when a product is out of stock, or if the lack of space requires too-frequent inventory replenishment. Consequently, a container that allows more of a particular product to be stored in a given volume of sales and display space would be preferred over a container that makes less efficient use of that space, especially when that space is at a premium.
Thermoformed plastic containers are well known as inexpensive and highly customizable containers for the sale of a wide variety of products, everything from cell phones to deli meats. Thermoformed plastic containers are typically transparent and rigid, so they can give a consumer the ability to examine a product closely. They can be made tamper-resistant, to reduce the risk that the product could be damaged or contaminated. They are typically lightweight, and can be efficiently stored or shipped together in a nested fashion. It is easy to include product information and cosmetic features in these types of containers, for example with stickers or cards glued to the outside of the containers, with embossing molded into the containers, or with paper inserts inside the containers.
For these and other reasons, thermoformed plastic containers are often preferred over other available options for product containers, such as cardboard or metal boxes, bags, metal cans, or paper cartons. However, for some packaging applications, for example sales of products in refrigerated deli meat sections of a grocery store, thermoformed plastic containers have not gained market share compared to these other available options. What is needed is a thermoformed container system that can stand up to maximize usable available display space on its surface and that can nest together to maximize storage density of inventory in a given volume of sales and display space.